Russia’s FSB security service has opened a criminal case for armed mutiny against Wagner’s Yevgeny Prigozhin after the mercenary chief accused the Russian military of targeting his forces and vowed to “destroy” his rivals. In an extraordinary series of audio clips released late on Friday, Prigozhin claimed that a Russian rocket attack had killed scores of his fighters, vowing to take “revenge” and “stop the evil brought by the military leadership of the country”. “Those who destroyed today our guys, who destroyed tens, tens of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers will be punished. I’m asking: no one resist,” Prigozhin said. Prigozhin also published a video which he claims shows the aftermath of the rocket attack on a Wagner camp in Russia’s southern Rostov region. In a virtual declaration of war against his rivals in the Russian military, Prigozhin said he controlled 25,000 fighters and that together “we are going to figure out why the chaos is happening in the country”. “Anyone who wants should join. We need to end this mess,” he said. “Everyone who will try to resist, we will consider them a danger and destroy them immediately, including any checkpoints on our way. And any aviation that we see above our heads,” he added. “I’m asking everyone to remain calm, do not succumb to provocations, and remain in their houses. Ideally, those along our way, do not go outside. After we finished what we started, we will return to the frontline to protect our motherland,” Prigozhin said. The FSB said that Prigozhin’s statements and actions constituted “calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on the territory of the Russian Federation.” Russian state news agency Tass, citing law enforcement agencies, reported that security measures have been strengthened in Moscow, with critical facilities taken under increased protection. Unconfirmed footage also appeared to show military vehicles on the streets of the Russian capital. Amid rumours that columns of Wagner fighters were already on the move, General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s Ukraine campaign, released a video address ordering the mercenaries to remain loyal to Putin. “I urge you to stop,” said Surovikin, who was previously understood to be close to Prigozhin. “The enemy is just waiting for the internal political situation to worsen in our country.” The string of statements marked an unprecedented escalation of infighting among Russia’s elite, which has pitted Prigozhin against defence minister Sergei Shoigu and senior military commanders. The FSB urged Wagner fighters “not to make irreparable mistakes, to stop any forceful actions against the Russian people, not to carry out the criminal and treacherous orders of Prigozhin, and to take measures to detain him.” In a separate statement, prosecutors said that Prigozhin could face between 12 and 20 years in prison. Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the Russian president was “aware of the situation unfolding around Prigozhin”. “All necessary measures are being taken,” Russian state media quoted Peskov saying. According to several Telegram channels linked to security services, an emergency protocol has been implemented in Rostov, the city from where Prigozhin said Shoigu directed the supposed strike on his troops. The “Citadel protocol” implies full mobilisation of the local security services. Pictures published by local media showed armour vehicles appearing on the streets of the city. Baza, a Telegram channel linked to Russian security services, reported that helicopters were seen flying over Rostov. It was not immediately clear what Prigozhin’s objectives were and whether his threats were directed at the Kremlin. “This is not a military coup, this is a march of justice. Our actions do not hinder the armed forces in any way,” the Wagner chief said, adding that the “majority of soldiers” were on his side. The warlord has been arguing with top military officials for months, singling out tShoigu, over battlefield failures. Russia’s defence ministry quickly issued a statement dismissing Prigozhin’s audio messages as a “provocation”. “All the messages and video footage distributed on social networks on behalf of E Prigozhin about the alleged ‘strike by the RF Ministry of Defense on the rear camps of PMC Wagner’ do not correspond to reality and are an informational provocation,” the defence ministry said. Earlier in the day, Prigozhin accused Moscow’s leadership of lying to the public about the justifications for invading Ukraine, denying Moscow’s claims that Kyiv was planning to launch an offensive on the Russian-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine in February 2022. “There was nothing extraordinary happening on the eve of February 24,” Prigozhin said. “The ministry of defence is trying to deceive the public and the president and spin the story that there was insane levels of aggression from the Ukrainian side and that they were going to attack us together with the whole Nato block,” the Wagner head said. Shortly after Russia attacked Ukraine, Putin claimed Moscow’s invasion had thwarted Ukraine’s own plans for “a massive attack on the Donbas, and then on the Crimea”. Prigozhin also said Russia’s leadership could have avoided the war by negotiating with Ukraine’s president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy. Prigozhin’s tirades on Friday marked a new escalation of his war of words with political rivals, directly contradicting Putin’s rationale for the invasion, and implying it was based on lies in the harshest criticism by any prominent Russian war figure of the decision to attack Ukraine. “What was the war for? The war needed for Shoigu to receive a hero star … The oligarchic clan that rules Russia needed the war,” he said. While the warlord was careful not to directly attack the Russian president, Prigozhin did question several decisions made by Putin, including the Kremlin’s decision to exchange more than 100 captured Azov fighters for Viktor Medvedchuk, a close ally of Putin. Directly contradicting Putin’s claims that Moscow has fended off Kyiv’s counterattack, Prigozhin also accused the Russian military leadership of lying to the public about the scale of its losses and setbacks in Ukraine. “The Russian army is retreating in all directions and shedding a lot of blood … What they tell us is the deepest deception.”